Academy hold seven-a-side youth tourney
U13 winners Cayman Athletic with Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden (back, right)
(CNS Local Life): Academy Sports Club held its inaugural ASC Mini Slam 7v7 tournament on Saturday, 17 December, with 125 footballers from ages 8 to 12 competing in matches at the club’s four seven-a-side fields. The half-day event was organised to boost the youth football environment. “The U13 players have had their competition postponed by CIFA until early 2017 so we organised this event partly to get those kids out and having some fun playing now,” Paul Byles, U13/U15 coach at Academy, said.
“The seven-a-side format meant that local clubs and schools could enter multiple teams to enable more playing time for the youth players. We thought it would be a lot of fun and with 58 goals scored in 384 minutes of football it seems to have worked out very well.”
Among the 12 teams participating in addition to Academy were Cayman Athletic, Future FC, Tigers FC and Cayman Prep and High School.
“Academy congratulates all the teams and players for their outstanding performances throughout the tournament. The spirit and camaraderie among the players coaches and parents was very positive,” Virgil Seymour, Academy head coach, said.
Official results of the tournament were:
U11 Mini Slam Champions – Cayman Prep
U11 Mini Slam Runners Up – Tigers FC ‘A’ Team
U13 Mini Slam Champions – Cayman Athletic Sports Club
U13 Mini Slam Runners Up – Future FC
U11 Mini Slam top goal scorer – Jaxon Cover, Cayman Prep
U13 Mini Slam top goal scorer – Jacobbi Tugman, ASC
Mini Slam Fair Play Award – Caleb Winspear
Academy plans to repeat the Mini Slam again in January and, based on feedback from the players and coaches, is expecting a greater turnout for the next event.
